Marc Martel - Under Pressure - Featuring One Vision Of Queen (Queen cover)

Whoever said, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” undoubtedly had a future worldwide pandemic in mind. We musicians have evolved into hypersocial beings who rely, nay, depend, on close proximity to accomplish our goal of making that sweet, sweet, harmonious sound. These extraordinary times call for an extra helping of creativity to achieve that goal, and unlike the days of the Spanish flu, I’m grateful that today’s technology affords us possibilities of approximating that irreplaceable feeling of “being there.” And while you can’t catch us live just yet, hopefully this will serve to reignite that craving for what the world is missing while we figure this ish out.

It was our guitarist, Tristan Avakian, who first suggested we do an at-home version of “Under Pressure.” I loved the idea immediately, and I’ll tell you why. As you probably know, I’ve been making these “One-Take” videos for quite some time now, and while “Under Pressure” is one of my favorite Queen songs, I’ve never attempted it on my own because of how it relies so heavily on the bass line. I’ve tried to come up with a solo arrangement on the piano and guitar a few times, but always fell dreadfully short of the magic that Queen and Bowie captured in their arrangement. Without that key counter-melodic, counter-rhythmic bass line, the whole thing falls apart, and I wasn’t interested in re-inventing the song into some kind of emo ballad. I’ll leave that to someone else - someone younger, maybe in the indie or electric pop world, and who pronounces ‘u’ like normal English speakers pronounce ‘i.’ (Sorry. Had to get that off my chest).

In this video, we have stayed true to the “One-Take” formula; everyone playing their part all the way through, without video edits, just like we do at our live shows (even down to the hand claps, which Brandon sneakily plays on his keyboard). I compiled the whole thing, mixing audio, and painstakingly figuring out how everyone has been making those Brady Bunch-style videos.

We had a blast making this! I was so impressed at how quickly it came together that we may just have to do this again soon. Of course, we’re not reinventing the wheel here, as many have gone before us and done something similar. But I hope you enjoy this first foray into the land of at-home band performances by One Vision of Queen.

No, it’s not live… but close enough… at least for now.

[cramletram]

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[ozkvitel]

This is the amount of people who want marc to tour with queen.
Only one show! That's all we want
Please make contact with Queen. One show before they’ll die

[danielb.m]

Jesus Christ! 😳 Freddie and Bowie stills alive... bravo men

[jhonramirez]

My ears just couldn't believe this is not Freddie Mercury. This is just perfect. Wow

[after]

It is a fact that Marc's voice is excellent. But we must also applaud the work of the instrumentalists and the guitarist (His voice is exactly like Bowie's in this song)

[maxp]

well this is world class right there. Freddie would be so proud of you honestly

[supertroy]

Jesus it’s like literally listening to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury in present time!

[christophersheetz]

I can just imagine Freddie looking down and seeing this. The first thing he's say: "Fabulous darling"

[britishpatriot]

That is literally freddie and David Bowie omg this is incredible

[Heatstruct]

Everyone talking about Marc (and given, he's amazing in his own right) but no one's talking about Tristan's down right bloody outstanding performance on David Bowie's verses. I loved everything about this.

[Hugo-bos]

I dont understand why he isnt one of the most famous singers in the world

[thisisajang]

Probably the best Queen's cover I've ever seen.

[beachside]

The guy playing David Bowie is just incredible and dead on....wow

[tacocat]

Nobody:

The drummer: *_EARTHQUAKE_*

[jaygeoffrey]

Tristan nailed the David bowie's vocals, its almost indistinguishable

[ravishranjan]

Imagine what will happen if he tours with Queen. It will be a massive hit. Agree

[Rabun]

Who is this Bowie guy? He's just unbelievable!

[diegoarmando]

La verdad soy un joven de 17 años que descubrio queen por la pelicula y ahora no para de escuchar la música de ellos

[carltonbanks]

Undoubtedly the best Under Pressure cover I have ever heard.

[Zero-fdob]

Once again Tristan nailed the David Bowie part and Marc, i don't have anything to say about him, just awesome.